Knowing how to write an annotated bibliography is a skill that you will possibly need at any point in your academic life. As a student, you will be required to write down an annotated bibliography before writing your argumentative essays or other types of essays. 

What is an annotated bibliography? 

This is an annotation or a compilation of various sources that you will cite in any of the essays you are required to write. However, it is not a reference list because it is more nuanced with various details that need to be included. 

After writing down the source in either APA or MLA format, an annotated bibliography requires you to write a summary of that source, how you will use it in your essay, and whether the source is valid and important for your essay. 

Here is an example:



By, R. T. (2005). Organizational change management: A critical review. Journal of change management, 5(4), 369-380.

In an annotated bibliography, make sure you begin by writing down your source. This source is written in APA format. Make sure you use a hanging indent for all your sources, whether in MLA or APA. After the source, summarize the contents of your source. That means you have to read the paper and highlight the major points you have read. Typically, such a summary only consists of four sentences. After you are done with the summary, explain why the source is important for your essay. Does it support a particular claim in your essay? Does it provide facts and statistics about a certain position you intend to take? Write your reasons in approximately 3 sentences. Lastly, explain why the source is valid and reliable to be used as a source. In this case, explain whether the paper has a biased point of view, whether it is current, or whether it has certain fallacies. This portion should typically consist of three sentences.